By Kirk Maltais

--Soybeans for July delivery fell 1.3% to $15.19 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday as traders speculated that farmers may plant more soybeans than the USDA anticipates.

--Wheat for July delivery fell 0.9% to $7.32 3/4 a bushel.

--Corn for July delivery fell 0.5% to $6.54 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Repositioning: Soybeans turned lower Tuesday, as traders took the opportunity to sell and collect quick profits after prices moved to a multi-year high yesterday. Also weighing on futures today: a comment from the CEO of Archer Daniels Midland this morning, saying the company expected planted acreage to be higher than what was projected by the USDA in March. AgResource said ADM "expected that combined US 2021 corn/soybean acres would expand 5 Mil acres," which the research company said "would be a big deal if correct." In the March report, the USDA projected corn planted acres at 91.1 million acres and soybean acres at 87.6 million acres.

Slow Progress: Although grains finally finished lower today, corn and wheat traded higher for most of the day. For corn in particular, crop progress is lagging behind last year. According to the USDA's crop progress report released late yesterday, the U.S. corn crop is now 17% planted - which is down from 24% at the same time last year and from the 5-year average of 20%. "At the present time several states in the Corn Belt have seen their topsoil moisture levels diminish, with some states in the Upper Plains seeing a considerable decline," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor.

INSIGHTS

Borrowers Wanted: Farm loan activity fell in the first quarter of 2021, said the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City - with operating loans down $12 billion versus this time last year. Major commercial banks were a primary driver for the drop, with their agricultural loan volume down 14%. "Reduced demand for loans to finance operating expenses drove the overall decline in non-real estate financing," said the bank. The reduced demand for loans comes amid an ongoing rally for grains prices, with futures up at multi-year highs this week. Corn and wheat have led assets higher this quarter, according to Wall Street Journal data tracking select assets.

Still For Sale: A turnaround in Archer Daniels Midland's ethanol business hasn't changed the agribusiness giant's plan to unload some of its plants. CEO Juan Luciano said on ADM's first quarter conference call that the company is restarting idled ethanol dry mills, thanks to rising U.S. gasoline demand and Chinese exports, but ADM is still working with potential partners to monetize those businesses. "We are still committed to reducing our exposure to vehicle fuel ethanol," Mr. Luciano said. ADM previously has talked about placing the mills into a joint venture or selling them.

Stockpile Drawdown: The decline in ethanol stockpiles seen for most of this year is expected to continue this week, according to analysts surveyed by Dow Jones. Analysts forecast ethanol inventories to total anywhere from 19.8 million barrels to 20.5 million barrels - versus 20.45 million barrels last week. If stockpiles hit the low-end of trader expectations, it would be the lowest stocks have been since late October 2020. Meanwhile, U.S. ethanol production is expected to stay steady this week, with analysts forecasting production at anywhere between 938,000 barrels to 950,000 barrels per day.

AHEAD:

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

--The USDA will release its monthly agricultural prices report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly commitment of traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

Jacob Bunge contributed to this article.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-27-21 1539ET